Streetsblog: "Critical Mass and Klingenberg Ride Honors Fallen Cyclists..."

Blaine Klingenberg. Photo: Facebook

“It was an awesome sight when about 1,500 rider rolled up on Scott’s home,” recalled Steven Lane, who created the route map. “It looked like the whole family was out in lawn chairs with friends and neighbors hanging out. Scott was sitting up in a chair smiling and he lifted his arm to waive as the front of the Mass approached. I made eye contact with him and called out over my megaphone, ‘Who’s the man? You ARE!’” The family and their friends gave out bottles of water and Gatorade to the riders.

Things were more somber when about a thousand riders returned to the Loop and headed north on Michigan, arriving at the recent crash site around 10 p.m., according to Lane. “It was the very end of twilight, and northbound traffic was pretty much gone,” he said. He used the megaphone to explain what had happened to the courier, and asked riders to hold their bikes up in the air in a salute – hundreds did. The ride concluded at Oak Street Beach, the courier’s intended destination.

Last week Klingenberg’s girlfriend Perez, who works at nonprofit community bike shops, told me she was planning this Saturday’s memorial ride. “His dad wishes to do one last ride with Blaine,” she said.

Full Article on Streetsblog:

http://chi.streetsblog.org/2016/06/29/critical-mass-and-klingenberg...